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WILKES-BARRE — As the judge handed down the sentence Friday morning, gambler Mark Joseph Heltzel wiped his eyes.

For his involvement in an inside job to defraud Mohegan Sun Pocono out of more than $420,000, the 52-year-old Dallas resident will serve 18 months in federal prison, U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo ordered.

“You made a mistake for a long time,” Caputo said, rejecting an assertion that Heltzel briefly slipped up. “Every time you gambled, you were making a mistake.”

Heltzel previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a scheme that involved two former casino employees.

According to prosecutors, former cocktail waitress Rochelle Poszeluznyj, 39, of Kingston, collected player’s information and passed it along to the former vice president of player development, Robert Joseph Pellegrini, who used his executive casino access to make copies of the cards and put free play on them. Heltzel then used the cards to gamble at video poker machines, raking in $422,147 between May 2014 and April 2015, according to prosecutors.

In court Friday, Heltzel sought leniency from the judge, saying he is deeply embarrassed by his conduct and the attention it brought to his wife, a Dallas School District teacher, and two daughters.

“When this happened, the embarrassment and shame that I felt, I had never felt in my life before,” he said, describing himself as being “lost” and “arrogant” while committing the crimes.

Defense attorney Demetrius Fannick described Heltzel as an educated professional and a married father who was well off with a career as a financial planner before he turned to a life of gambling and booze. In a short period, Heltzel went from being a social drinker to a near alcoholic who was addicted to gambling, he said.

“Everything really snowballed,” Fannick said.

Heltzel said that since his arrest, he has been getting counseling and that he is trying to set his life back on track. Despite the huge value of the theft, Heltzel said he has little left to show for it, he said.

“People always say to me, ‘Where’d the money go?’ It went back to the casino,” Heltzel said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Olshefski countered that Heltzel deserved prison time because of the serious nature of the crime. Before his involvement in the conspiracy, Heltzel lived a life of privilege — the “American dream” — but still he wanted more, she said.

The prosecutor noted that while Heltzel now appears repentant, he only stopped gambling on the casino’s dime after being caught.

“This is a very tragic set of circumstances here. Everyone is sorry when they get caught,” Olshefski said.

The judge sentenced Heltzel to serve 18 months in federal prison followed by a year of probation, saying that while the sentence might be stiffer than Heltzel expected, Caputo wanted to send a message to deter others.

Heltzel was ordered to report to prison Sept. 5 and will also be required to make restitution of $420,147 along with his co-conspirators.

Poszeluznyj, who prosecutors say got mostly gifts or “comps” for her role in the conspiracy, has only a $2,000 share of that amount. She is set to be sentenced Aug. 31 after pleading guilty to money laundering conspiracy.

Pellegrini, 51, of Fairview Twp. — who Caputo described as “most responsible” for the crime — also pleaded guilty to a money-laundering charge and was sentenced in June to serve 32 months in federal prison. He is currently serving his time at Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill.

Contact the writer:

570-821-2058, @cvjimhalpin